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Posted May 31, 2013 06:52 pm - Updated January 22, 2016 03:14 pm

NATHAN DOMINITZ: Surveying the local sports scene

When you think of Georgia, what’s on your mind?

It depends on who “you” are.

From a national perspective, the first and easiest answer is peaches. We are the Peach State, after all. Some, harkening back to their early schooling, might recite the names of other crops, such as pecans and peanuts.

Or, people might think of how they see Georgia for the first time, from the inside of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Not exactly a chamber of commerce postcard, but a necessary and valuable asset.

Probably, and probably in that order in terms of popularity statewide.

Zooming in locally, what kind of sports town is Savannah?

Diehard fans of the New York Mets know Savannah for the Sand Gnats, the franchise’s affiliate in the Class A South Atlantic League. Met nation can follow prospects’ progress on a daily basis through Internet sites and Twitter accounts.

The Sand Gnats are Savannah’s lone professional team. They’re Savannah’s team, sometimes a very good team, but fans don’t attend in fantastic numbers on a regular basis.

Though the current average of 1,999 a game is the Gnats’ best going back at least to 2005, they are 12th out of 14 teams and had ranked 13th or 14th at the end of the past eight seasons.

Would fans come out to the ballgame if venerable Grayson Stadium was replaced by a new park — and keep coming back? It’s something the politicians, and those who elect them, have to consider.

So while the state annually produces a bumper crop of baseball talent (just ask the Braves), it’d be hard to argue Savannah is a baseball town.

We may be a town of doers, not spectators (other than college football Saturdays). Yes, when UGA’s club team plays Georgia Tech’s squad at the annual Savannah Tire Hockey Classic, the Savannah Civic Center is the place to be. The crowds can be electric, and in the VIP area a little woozy, as they have deep rooting interests in the Bulldogs, Yellow Jackets and having a good time.

But we’re no threat to Detroit as Hockeytown USA.

If you ask the folks at Fleet Feet Sports, Georgia Game Changers and other such merchants, we’re a running town. It’s on a T-shirt — “We Run this Town” — so it must be true.

Pick almost any Saturday once the weather warms to when it chills, and there’s probably a 5K or 10K (or three) getting folks out of bed early to run and raise money for charity.

The Enmark Savannah River Bridge Run is the flagship local race, marked on calendars for the first Saturday in December. The new kid on the block — 26.2 miles of blocks — is the Rock ’n’ Roll Savannah Marathon and Half Marathon, part of a larger movement nationally blending competitors and completers, a second running boom. Each November, thousands come to run this town.

Again, it depends of whom you ask. The good people of the Savannah Disc Golf Club put their arms and backs into the sport, designing, building and maintaining courses which anyone of any size or shape can use for affordable fun.

“Ball golf” — what we call golf — is practically indigenous to Savannah, which for generations has boasted of great courses and great players at the junior, amateur and professional levels. So, they can argue, we’re a golf town.

We covet Masters badges as tickets to golf paradise, but we probably need to show more love for our own tournament, the Legends of Golf — if title sponsor Liberty Mutual Insurance brings back the Champions Tour event.

Fun and games

Recreational tennis, bowling and darts all have their moments in the spotlight here, as do soccer, softball, swimming, football, basketball, baseball, roller derby, half rubber ... you name it, because I don’t want to leave anybody out.

The local colleges — Armstrong Atlantic State, Savannah State and the Savannah College of Art and Design — have brought national attention to our city through their athletics programs. Are we a college sports town? From the participants’ point of view, yes, and when you see how much time and effort they put in, you understand.

Getting the most participation — and most local media coverage — is high school sports. The sheer number of teams indicates prep sports is a high priority for these girls and boys, their families, school faculty and staff and some very loyal fans through thick and thin. You are true to your school.

So what’s the answer? What kind of sports town is Savannah? It depends on you.

Nathan Dominitz is a sports reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at nathan.dominitz@savannahnow.com or 912-652-0350.